Heat saver



w. R. ROSE, SR 2,879,976 HEAT SAVER March 31, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 12, 1956 William R. Rose 8r.

IN VEN TOR.

March 31, 1959 w. R. osa, SR 7 2,379,976

- HEAT SAVER Filed April 12, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent HEAT SAVER William R. Rose, Sr., Waterford, Conn., assignor of ten percent to William R. Rose, Jr., Waterford, and ten percent to Carl Anderson, New London, Conn.

Application April 12, 1956, Serial No. 577,739 3 Claims. (Cl. 257166) This invention relates to attachments for smoke pipes and particularly to an attachment for a smoke pipe which extracts the heat from the smoke or other products of combustion passing therethrough and utilizes the heat therefrom.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved heater which is adapted to be connected in an ordinary, common smoke pipe of the type which connects to a furnace or boiler and to a chimney, the heater interposed in this pipe being of improved, practical and inexpensive construction and functioning with high efliciency in order to extract the heat from the smoke which passes through the smoke pipe. This is accomplished by a novel arrangement of baffling in the jacket that is formed around the column of smoke passing through the smoke pipe.

-A more specific object of the invention is to provide an improved heat saver that is adapted ,to be connected with a smoke pipe, this heat saver being made of two concentric casings, the inner one functioning as a smoke pipe and the outer one cooperating with the inner one in order to form a heating jacket through which air is propelled in heat exchange relationship to the inner casing, the air that is being heated being required by the baffling arrangement to take a tortuous path so as to become exposed to a very large surface area whereby the air is greatly heated. v

A further object of the invention is to provide a heat saver of the type that is arranged to extract the waste heat from the smoke in a smoke pipe or the like, the heat saver being constructed .of-any length. depending upon the size of theinstallation that is desired and the amount of heat that is permissible to extract from the smoke as it passes through the smoke pipe, the length of the heat saver being altered by utilizing moreor less units that are-frictionally fitted together to form a hea saver as a column type assembly. V

:Other objects and features it of importance, such as the heat extracting baffles that are located in the air casing of the heat saver, will become apparent in following the description of the airsaving form of the invention, where- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the heat saver showing it installed in a typical smoke pipe;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a perspective View of one of the inner switches assembled to form the heat saver; and,

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing a modification of the heat saver.

In the accompanying drawings, there are illustrated two forms of the invention. Both are used in an identical fashion. The suggested use for the heat saver 10 or the heat saver 12 (Fig. 6) is demonstrated in Figure 1.

Here, a smoke pipe 14 extending from the furnace or boiler is heading toward the chimney in an ordinary installation. However, interposed in the smoke pipe 14 is the heat saver 10. This leaves the smoke pipe 14 in two sections 16 and 18 of the smoke pipe 14, the sections being arranged in confronting relationship to each other as seen in Figure 4.

The heat saver 10 is made of lightweight metal capable 32 of inner casing 22. This communicates the bore of the inner casing 22 with the smoke pipe 14 so that any smoke coming from the furnace or boiler and going to the chimney must pass through the heat saver 10 and specifically, must pass through the smoke passage blower 32 thereof. Heat extracting baffles 34 are disposed in the bore 32 and they consist of rings on the surface of bore 32, each ring being provided with a number of aper tures 36. Apertures 36 cause a turbulence in the smoke that passes through bore 32, the turbulence being near the surface of bore 32 in order that there will be a greater opportunity for the smoke to surrender its heat to the surface of bore 32, this heat ultimately being at least in part transmitted to the air which passes through air passage 38 that is between the inner and outer casings 22 and 20, respectively.

The passage 38 has an end wall 40 formed as a toroidal ring on the endof smoke pipe section 16. A cylindrical flange 42 is on the outer periphery of toroidal wall 40 and is riveted as at 44 to the end part of outer casing 20. A group of baffles are preferably equally spaced and parallel to each other in the passage 38. Each bafiie is of a-toroidal shape and is located in a plane which is transverse to the longitudinal axis of the casings 20 and'22. Baffle 48 is a typical bafiie and it has a series of apertures 50 extending through it and in the entire area of-the baffle. Baffles 48 are near each end of the heat saver 10, whilebaffles 52 are intermediate the ends thereof. The bafiies 52 differ from the bafiles 48 only in that (see Fig. 5) approximately half of the area of the baifle isprovided with apertures 54. By staggering the apertured-parts of the bafiles 52 in successive baffles, air'passing therethrough must take a tortuous path between the inlet 58 and the outlet 60 thereof. Inlet 58 is formed by an aperture 62 in outer casing 20. There is an inlet pipe 66 in registry with the aperture 62 and connected to casing 20. This inlet pipe has a motor stand 68 in it accommodating electric motor 70. This motor has an air impeller 71 on its shaft and electric wiring 72 operatively connected with it and to suitable controls. The purpose of the fan motor 70 is to operate the fan or impeller 71 so as to force air into the passage 38. The outlet for the air is made by an aperture 74 in the outer casing 20, and there is an air conducting pipe 75 in registry with the aperture 74 and carried by outer casing 20. Fan motor 70 may be controlled by a manual switch or may be connected in a different control system depending upon the particular use to which the heat saver is placed and the cost factor. For example, a thermostatic control 76 may be placed in the heat pipe section 16 and appropriately wired with a source of electrical energy and the motor 70 in order to automatically control the motor. Thermostats located in other parts of the room may also be used,

the particular type of control for the motor being left within the prerogative of the user.

Attention is now directed to Figure 6 where all of the parts of the heat saver 12 are identical to the parts disclosed in Figure 4. However, there is one exception and that is the heat extracting bafiles 80 that are located in the smoke conducting bore 32. Baflles 80 are toroidal in shape as are baflles34, but they are imperforate and they are tapered inwardly toward the longitudinal axis of the inner and outer casings. They function for the same purpose as heat extracting bafiles 34 and in a quite similar manner. The angling of the baflles 80 is to cause a turbulence of the hot products of combustion as they pass through bore 32 in order to thoroughly heat the inner casing 22, this heat at least in part being carried off by the air which passes through passage 38.

In constructing the heat saver of Figure 4 or Figure 6, a similar system is employed. A number of units, such as the typical unit 82 of Figure 5, are simply nested on each other and this forms the completed heat saver with all of its passages, walls and other described structures. Unit 80 comprises a single typical baflle, a cylindrical conduit 80 having a longitudinal axis perpendicular to the plane of baffie 52, a collar 85 of reduced diameter from cylindrical conduit 84, and one bafile 34. When a second similar unit 82 is nested with unit 82 shown in Figure 5 the end of cylindrical conduit 84 nearest to baffle 52 is fitted upon the surface of collar 85 until the inner edge of the baflle strikes shoulder 88. When a desired number of units are assembled in this way, outer casing 20 is either placed thereover or, if these units are assembled directly in the outer casing, the two end walls 40 and 88 are riveted as at 44 and 89 onto the ends of outer casing 20.

In practical use the air is drawn into the inlet as shown in Figure 2, and is free to flow through the first two bafiles 48 and 48 (Fig. 4) inasmuch as these have air passing apertures 50 completely around them. Then, for the next indefinite number of baffles, the air is required to assume a tortuous path inasmuch as successive baifies have their apertures on opposite sides of the heat saver. When the air reaches the region of the outlet 60, it again may pass through the baflies completely around the inner casing 22 inasmuch as they are perforated throughout their entire area.

As the smoke passes through smoke pipe 14, it is required to pass through the heat saver or the heat saver 12 before it can reach the chimney. In doing this, the outer part of the tube of smoke and other products of combustion that pass through the smoke pipe are decelerated causing a turbulence and requiring the smoke and other hot products of combustion to surrender some of their heat to the inner casing 22 and also the walls of passage 38. Baifies 34 or 80 are responsible for this turbulent condition of the gases.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to 4 those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A heat saver through which smoke and products of combustion are adapted to pass, said heat saver comprising an outer casing, toroidal bafiles contacting said outer casing and having parts which constitute an inner casing, said casings spaced from each other to provide an air passage therebetween, said air passage having a spaced air inlet and air outlet, a blower operative to propel air through said inlet and outlet and passage, said inner casing and baffles being made of a plurality of nested units, each unit having one of said toroidal baflles, successive baflles having aligned parts which are alternately apertured and imperforate to direct the air passing through said passage in a tortuous path, said inner casing defining a cylindrical conduit having a longitu-' dinal axis perpendicular to the plane of the toroidal bafiles, a collar forming a portion of said cylindrical conduit and located at one end thereof over which the cylindrical conduit of the next adjacent unit is fitted.

2. A heat saver through which smoke and products of combustion are adapted to pass, said heat saver comprising an outer casing, toroidal bafiles contacting said outer casing and having parts which constitute an inner casing, said casings spaced from each other to provide an air passage therebetween, said air passage having a spaced air inlet and air outlet, a blower operative to propel air through said inlet and outlet and passage, said inner casing and bafiles being made of a plurality of nested units, each unit having one of said toroidal bafiles, successive bafiles having aligned parts which are alternately apertured and imperforate to direct the air passing through said passage in a tortuous path, said inner casing defining a cylindrical conduit having a longitudinal axis perpendicular to the plane of the toroidal baffies, a collar forming a portion of said cylindrical conduit and located at one end thereof over which the cylindrical conduit of the next adjacent unit is fitted, said inner casing being a smoke conductor, and at least some of said units having batfies that are at the end of the collar of each and protruding inwardly of said inner casing.

3. The heat saver of claim 2 wherein the last mentioned baffles are annular in shape.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 650,473 McBean May 29, 1900 1,349,482 Wood Aug. 10, 1920 1,880,533 Thomas Oct. 4, 1932 2,445,102 Benn July 13, 1948 2,468,909 Yeager et a1. May 3, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 15,628 Great Britain 1909 

